Johnson v. Martin’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

11 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 11 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Under the common law and under the vast majority of state statutes governing descent and distribution, title to real property passes to the heirs or devisees immediately upon the death of the owner. Consequently, under the common law and such statutes, the devisees, not the residuary legatees, are responsible from the moment of the testator’s death for paying the expenses incurred in maintaining and managing the property. In 1980 the common law rule was changed in the District of Columbia by the Probate Reform Act, D.C. Law No. 3-72, § 101, 27 D.C.Reg. 2155 (codified in Title 20 of the District of Columbia Code Reading these provisions together, we conclude that the statute, by not only placing on the personal representative the responsibility for maintaining the decedent’s property until it is distributed but also authorizing him or her to pay the expenses of doing so, necessarily imposes the cost of such maintenance on the entire estate (in particular, the residue) when the property is subject to exoneration. When the testator’s intent is to pass the property whole or in kind to the devisee, without encumbrance, and when — as in this case — the property generates no income, we see no unfairness in permitting the residue to bear the expense of maintaining the property prior to distribution.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Lemp v. Keto

2. “take possession of and hold assets owned by the decedent,”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. In Re Estate of Bates